​The first blades manufactured at the Siemens blade factory in Hull will be used at DONG Energy's Race Bank offshore wind farm.

Race Bank is located off the North Norfolk coast and is being built out of DONG Energy's construction base in the Grimsby Fish Docks. The installation of the blades and the rest of the turbines is on track to start up in summer 2017.

The Siemens blade factory in Hull has been officially opened today (1 December 2016).

Brent Cheshire, DONG Energy's UK Country Chairman, said:

"DONG Energy is absolutely committed to investing in the UK so I'm delighted we will be the first company to use Siemens blades manufactured right here in Hull. The opening of this Siemens blade factory is another positive step forward for the UK supply chain.

"Race Bank is a significant project capable of powering over half a million homes a year and is being constructed from our base in Grimsby. To have blades manufactured down the road in Hull really underlines the great success story of offshore wind in this country."

Approximately two thirds (around 180) of the blades at Race Bank will come from the Siemens facility in Hull. The wind farm is expected to be fully operational in 2018.

Blades being manufactured in Hull is only one part of a dedicated focus by DONG Energy and Race Bank to use local suppliers where relevant and this includes the array cables – which connect each of the wind turbines to the main export cable that transmits electricity back to shore – where three different UK companies have been contracted.

Located approximately 16.8 miles off Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk coast and 17.4 miles off the Lincolnshire coast at Chapel St Leonards

Covers a total area of 75km2

Consists of 91 Siemens 6 megawatt (MW) turbines

Total capacity of up to 580MW, producing enough electricity to power over half a million UK homes annually

Notes to Editors

About DONG Energy: DONG Energy (NASDAQ OMX: DENERG) is one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe, headquartered in Denmark. Around 6,500 ambitious employees, including over 700 in the UK, are engaged in developing, constructing and operating offshore wind farms; generating power and heat from our power stations; providing energy to residential and business customers on a daily basis; and producing oil and gas. Group revenue was DKK 71bn (EUR 9.5bn) in 2015. For further information, see
www.dongenergy.co.uk or follow us
@DONGEnergyUK on Twitter.